Thursday, June 23, 2011

ONWARD, ALL EX MORMONS - LDS Hymn Parody #21

Even though I left the church a little over 7 years ago, it took me several years after that to begin to become vocal about my disaffection from Mormonism. In fact, I didn't even visit any ExMormon type of websites until late 2008 - and I left the church in 2004. Looking back at that time frame, I now realize that I could have benefited from the insights of others who had left the church - and not felt so alone in my disaffection. But I also realize that the reason I did not go on those types of websites back then was because I thought the people there were "angry apostate" types, and weren't necessarily telling the real truth about Mormon history, teachings or doctrine - and since I was conditioned in all my years as a Mormon to avoid those types of situations, I held onto that mindset even after leaving Mormonism. You know, the whole "Anti-Mormon Propaganda" spiel. After all, the programming runs deep - and the brainwashing is difficult to counteract.

The first time I ever went on ExMormon.org (and the Recovery from Mormonism discussion board) was in December 2008. I had gone to my brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, and after dinner he wanted to show me all the genealogy he had submitted to the Mormon Church's genealogy website, http://www.familysearch.org/. Our mother had done a lot of genealogy before her death in 1977 (going back into the 1100's or so), and after her death my brother took it over and did quite a bit more, going back even further. Of course, with the advent of the internet, he eventually submitted all that both he and my mother had done, and he was very proud of his accomplishments. It was quite interesting to see how far back he had gotten some of our lines, and the fact that our ancestral lines include Dutch, English, French and Swedish blood. Also, included in our ancestors are Princess Diana and some other royal blood, which I also found interesting.

In the process of showing me our genealogy on the Mormon Church's genealogy website, http://www.familysearch.org/, he taught me how to find my way around it. So a couple of weeks later, I decided to go back on the website and look at Joseph Smith's pedigree chart. Of course, I had already done quite a bit of research about Joseph Smith and knew about his polygamous ways (as well as the fact that at the time of his death, he was married to 33 women). In fact, issues related to Polygamy had always bothered me, and during my research, I had discovered some of the truth behind Polygamy, including the fact that Joseph Smith had married 10 teenage girls (including one as young as 14 named Helen Mar Kimball) and the fact that he lied about the practice of polygamy numerous times. In fact, one of my favorite quotes of Joseph Smith is this one:

"...What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers." (History of the Church, vol 6, p. 411)

This statement was made by Joseph Smith as he was preaching from the stand in Nauvoo on Sunday, May 26, 1844. This was a month before his death - and at that time, Joseph Smith had 33 plural wives.

Was it okay for him to lie about his practice of polygamy? No, it wasn't. In fact, on June 8, 1844, when the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper was printed and distributed, and the story ran publicly exposing the truth about Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy, was it okay for Joseph Smith to order the destruction of the printing press and the burning of the building in which it was housed? No, definitely not. Those acts are why he was arrested and why he was incarcerated in Carthage Jail, where he was killed by gunshot from a mob on June 27, 1844. Of course, when I discovered this, I realized that Joseph Smith was not a martyr, but rather a criminal. For him to be "praised" and held out as a martyr by the Mormon Church is extremely deceptive.And after polygamy was outlawed and the Manifesto was issued in 1890, was it okay for other Mormon prophets and apostles to lie about their involvement in polygamy? No, definitely not. They agreed to stop polygamy in order for Utah to become a state, but history shows that they continued to practice it until at least 1910. And when they were questioned about it, they simply lied.

When I began to look around this genealogy website (created and operated by the Mormon Church), I saw all the women's names who had married Joseph Smith. Several of the names had links - and when I drilled down below these names, I discovered that they were married to other men when they married Joseph Smith. This was the beginnings of my discovery of Polyandry, and that aspect of the practice of Polygamy truly stunned me. Truly, I was flabbergasted, not only due to my discovery of this, but again, because I had never in all my years as a Mormon, heard anything about Polyandry before. This aspect of my research is discussed in great detail in the book I have written, which is found on this blog.It was after that when I first went on http://www.exmormon.org/ - and I was guided there by a Google search which included a link to an article on Polyandry written by Bob McCue. This article was a huge revelation for me, and although I had already left the church due to my many other issues, the information about Polyandry was an additional eye-opener in my disaffection from the Mormon Church. To think that I was a member of the Mormon Church for 52 years and never knew about Joseph Smith marrying women who were already married to living husbands is mind-boggling to me. But of course, the reason I didn't know is because the Mormon Church tries very hard to cover up this kind of information. They say they don't hide it, that the history has always been open to whoever wants to know about it, but the reality is that the majority of members of the Mormon Church do not know about the details of most of what happened in the beginnings of Mormonism because they just don't talk about it. And usually when they do hear about it, they write it off as "Anti-Mormon Propaganda."

After my first time visiting the website http://www.exmormon.org/, I went on their discussion board - Recovery from Mormonism. Over the next year or so, I spent a good amount of time reading and commenting on various threads. Eventually, I found http://www.postmormon.org/ and regularly visited their discussion board as well. That is where I found out about the annual ExMormon Foundation Conference, and I went to one last year for the first time (October 2010). It was great meeting a lot of the people with whom I had been exchanging messages on the discussion boards, and I consider many of these people to now be my very good friends. After that, I was invited to join a couple of Facebook discussion groups, and I have met some other amazing people on there - Former Mormons, PostMormons, ExMormons, others who are questioning Mormonism, and still others who know for certain that the church is not true but are still going to church because of family pressures (sometimes called Shadow Mormons). I have become very close "cyber-friends" with many of these people, and am planning on meeting many of them at the next ExMormon Foundation Conference in October 2011.

It has been quite a journey over the past 3 years. Through it all, I have seen myself evolve from what I would consider a Former Mormon woman who kept quiet about what I had discovered, not having reached a point where I felt comfortable expressing my views, to a full-blown ExMormon who is very vocal about what I consider to be a destructive religious organization that deals very fast and loose with the truth.And so, here is my latest hymn parody... a tribute to ExMormons everywhere...

About Me

MY EXIT FROM MORMONISM

As a preface to my thoughts about Mormonism (and my exit from my lifelong religion), I would like to share the following quote:

"Well, it's either true or false. If it's false, we're engaged in a great fraud. If it's true, it's the most important thing in the world. Now, that's the whole picture. It is either right or wrong, true or false, fraudulent or true."

President Gordon B. Hinckley,Interview, "The Mormons,"PBS Documentary, April 2007

In essence, after researching the roots of Mormonism, which obviously form its foundation, as well as examining its doctrine in depth, I have concluded that it is a great fraud. Having been born and raised in the Mormon Church, and remaining LDS until my early 50's, facing that realization was very difficult and was not done lightly.

SOME BACKGROUND:In the Summer of 2001, I went on a Mormon Church History Tour. Before going, I decided to do some research so I would know more about what occurred at the key places when we visited them. But that was the beginning of the end for me as I discovered more and more of the sordid history of the Mormon Church. Soon, I began to realize that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up and that the Mormon Church is built on an enormous stack of lies. Sadly, I also began to realize that I had allowed the Mormon Church to pull the wool over my eyes for a very long time. But even with that realization, it took me quite a while longer to finally break away because of how intricately my life was tied up in Mormonism and how long I had been blinded by the lies Mormonism perpetuates (which, of course, is what they are counting on).

But finally, I did break away - and I have now been Mormonism Free since 2004. What I have realized during the ensuing years is that my intellectual curiosity was squelched by Mormonism. Being told to "have faith" and "just believe" was very detrimental to my psyche, particularly since so much made little sense. Trying to rationalize through everything had a negative effect on me as well, making me very confused and uncomfortable. Since that time, I have discovered that these types of feelings are called "cognitive dissonance" (a feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions). Cognitive dissonance is discussed in greater length in a book I have written which is now available on Kindle. Since leaving Mormonism behind, I have grown so much and have discovered who I really am - and that is a tremendous gift.

As mentioned above, a book I have written is now available on Kindle. My book (entitled "Closing the Door on Mormonism: The AHA!! Moments that Triggered my Awakening") chronicles my very long journey through and away from Mormonism and discussed many of the issues that had plagued me for many years. It also contains some poems that I have written about my views concerning various aspects of Mormonism as well as discussions relative to the issues that led to my decision to eventually disassociate myself from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In sharing my opinions and the information I have uncovered, it is my hope that I can in some small way help others by offering some insights into issues that many Mormons undoubtedly face in determining whether or not their faith has been misplaced.

For those of you who are thinking, "Oh, those Ex-Mormons - they can leave the church but they just can't seem to leave it alone," I offer this quote:

"Some of you are probably thinking, 'Why don't you just leave them (the Mormons) alone?' So I ask you, if you saw a thirsty man drinking water from a well you knew to be poisoned, would you let him continue to drink or would you guide him to a safe well?" ~Christopher Miller

While I'm sure that active Mormons (TBMs) and the Mormon Church itself would be much happier if people who have left the church kept their opinions to themselves, I cannot do that. If I can help one person to see the lies that are laced throughout Mormonism, then I will feel that my efforts have not been in vain.

As you will note, I have written many LDS Hymn Parodies (to date, 111 and counting), all of which are posted on my other blog - http://exmormonhymnbook.blogspot.com/On that blog, you will also find an alphabetical listing of all the hymn parodies I have written.

﻿Such profound words from an amazing man. With Steve Jobs' death earlier this week, the world lost a real genius, a true visionary who...

James 1:5 Revisited

Mormonism for Mormons

Sadly, most Mormons don't even know the true origins of their religion, its actual history, or what the church really believes. They simply accept what their Mormon leaders tell them and don't do any research on their own. The description on this book should actually read, "Helping cult members learn what non-members and Ex-Mormons already know."

Another bad idea...

MORMONISM SCHISM on FACEBOOK

Favorite Quotes

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." ~Gloria Steinem

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” ~Abraham Lincoln

"Some things that are true are not very useful." Boyd K. Packer

"I have a hard time with historians, because historians idolize the truth." ~Boyd K. Packer

"It's impossible to reach good conclusions with bad information... We're all entitled to our own opinions, but none of us can afford to be wrong in our facts." ~Mort Crim

"...just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it." ~George Costanza (Seinfeld)

Questioning Mormonism?

Time Magazine, Aug. 4, 1997

Newsweek, June 5, 2011

Larry King - Interview with LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley on December 26, 2004